Annual Report, Zapata's "net profits for 1966 exceeded the net profits of several Fortune 500
companies." The value of Zapata's offshore drilling fleet was an estimated $34 mcompany's stock was now trading on the American Stock Exchange. With departure of Georgeillion, and the
H.W. Bush as chairman of the board, the corporate personalities of Zapata underwent a shakeup.
Along with Bush departed his maternal Uncle Herbie, aka G.H. Walker Jr., the Managing Director
of G.H. Walker and Co., New York. J.W. Gardner was out as president, replaced by William H.
Flynn. The new chairman of the board and chief executive officer was now D. Doyle Mize, whohad previously been a member of the board. The Underwood, Neuhaus Co. interests kept their seat (^)
on the Zapata board, but their representative changed from Milton R. Underwood to William
Stamps Farrish III, Bush's Beeville hunting partner and the grandson of the Standard Oil executive
who had been exposed for dealing with Nazi firms. Added to the board were also two
representatives of leading Houston law firms, including R.P. Bushman of Vinson, Elkins, Weems,and Searls and B.J. Mackin of Baker, Botts, Shepherd and Coates. Judging from the presence of
Farrish and the Houston lawyers, we may conclude that although Bush had departed from the
formal structure of Zapata, he still had board members to represent his interests, which was
important in light of the Zapata stock he continued to hold. The sole New Yorker on the post-Bush
board was also a new face, Michael M. Thomas of Lehman Brothers.
New drilling platforms included the ENDEAVOUR, HERON, and CHAPPARAL, plus a 60%
share of a ship-shaped floating vessel off the coast of Austrialia. Gulf Oil of Denmark had signed a
$9 million contract for a new platform called the MAERSK EXPLORER, the first of a new
generation of LeTourneau drilling units. CHAPPARAL was under contract to AGIP, a subsidiary ofthe Italian state oil compnay ENI, for operations in the Adriatic Sea. VINEGAROON was under
contract to Petrobras of Brazil. Zapata's offshore drilling activity by now comprehended areas off
Denmark, Brazil, Italy, England, the Persian Gulf, Australia, and Louisiana.
Turning to the world drilling market, the new post-Bush management offered the followingoverview: "The offshore drilling industry, in which Zapata is a significant participant, has undegone (^)
a substantial change in character and scope in the past five years. Five years ago, almost all the
offshore drilling units were operating in one geographical area, the Gulf of Mexico. Today, six
separate offshore provinces have emerged as showing solid evidence of having major hydrocarbon
deposits." World horizons were vast, with the Zapata mangement counting seventeen countries withoffshore oil or gas production already underway, and fifty other countries exploring or drilling for
oil. Zapata's ability to operate in such places as the North Sea, Austrialia, and Kuwait is indicative
not just of a very close relationship between Zapata and the seven sisters oil cartel, but of an
excellent entree with the inner sanctum of that cartel, the Royal Dutch Shell-British Petroleun
nexus, which exercised the decisive influence on the policies and contingency planning of thecartel. Royal Dutch Shell was for example the company that availed itself of the services of Lord (^)
Victor Rothschild for its future planning.
The 1966 Zapata Annual report estimated that about 50% of the company's profits came from US
operations, 20% fromfrom a subsidiary called Williams-McWilliams, which carried on dre the North Sea, 10% from the Middle East, 10% fromdging operations in the Gulf of Austrialia, and 10% (^)
Mexico and the lower Mississippi River. One can imagine that George Bush had to some degree
participated in the negotiations for these operations. During his years with Zapata, it would thus
appear that he had been able to extend the scope of his activity from the Cuban-Caribbean arena to
the Persian Gulf, other parts of the Arab world, Brazil, Scandinavia, and the Adriatic watersbetween Italy and Yugoslavia.
As the 1966 Congressional election approached, Bush was optimistic about his chances of finally
getting elected. This time, instead of swimming against the tide of the Goldwater cataclysm, Bush
would be favored by the classic mid-term election reflext which almost always helps the